Our Oakland

Monday, February 21, 2011

winter wonderland

yep, made a sound

Not quite as wondrous as the great weather we had a couple weeks ago, the weather last week was at least interesting. Besides the much-needed rain, there were reports of hail in downtown and elsewhere. There was lots of wind several nights, which is probably when this tree fell in Huckleberry. We had lots of small branches down, and the power went out a few times, though fortunately not for long.

snow on Mt. Diablo

California's water comes from rain and snow, and we got some of the latter, too. Not just in the Sierra Nevada, but on nearby Mt. Diablo. On Saturday, we even got some in Montclair! It was mixed with rain and didn't last long or stick anywhere, but it was definitely snow. I've seen hail a number of times in my 17 years in the hills, but snow is a rare sight here around the 1300' elevation mark. Which is a good thing, because most of the streets are steep and windy enough that they'd be lethal with even a small amount of snow or ice.

This week we're getting another break. Sunday after lunch we walked up to Huckleberry EBRP to take advantage of the weather and get some exercise. We even saw Sutter, first dog of California, outside enjoying the drier weather and waiting for Jerry to get home. Enjoy the weather while you can -- the current forecast shows the possibility of rain towards the end of the week.

definitely made a sound

update: I saw this on my ride home today off Shepherd Canyon. This definitely made a sound when it fell. Interesting timing, too -- our neighbor called today saying her tree guy said one of the big Monterey pines in her yard needs to come down. It's about the size of this one, but hangs over our house.